Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Last Sunday, under unusual-for-this-year sunny skies, our first child graduated from college. The Key Arena at Seattle Center was full of faculty, graduating students, and proud friends and families. It was Seattle University's 91st graduating class.

We knew where to look for our boy, and spotted him in the entering crowd.

There were, of course, speeches and congratulations and then the hundreds of graduates made their way to the front to receive their diplomas. Our boy was towards the end of the first half.

Then we waited....and waited....and waited.....for it to end. Good thing it was a small university!

Diploma in hand, T joined us outside by the fountain for some photos.

We went out later that evening for a small celebratory dinner with family. The note on the menu says it all:

Congratulations, big guy! We love you and are so proud of you. You made it through with your usual grace and style, successfully and smoothly. A whole big world awaits you and I know you'll make the most of it.

And for those of you wondering, this is what I did during those three hours:

Monday, June 7, 2010

Thanks to the preference of my spinning teacher, I have been on the lookout for a double treadle wheel since I decided to take the plunge and get a wheel. You might remember that during my search, I brought home a single treadle Ashford Traditional and Lendrum, both discovered on craigslist for good prices. I was spinning merrily along when I checked the list again. I hadn't been following the sales for quite some time, since I already had plenty of wheels. Of course, there was a Lendrum DT listed for sale.

After thinking about it (and pretty much talking myself out of it) DH said "That was your plan all along, wasn't it? Get the double treadle and sell your single?" Right! That was the plan. I went off to the computer to email the seller and, to make a long story short, now have three wheels.

The ever-helpful DH also made sure I wouldn't have trouble using my new wheel. Isn't that sweet?

I'd been working on spinning some merino-tencel that I want to use for socks. I took a sock-spinning class and came home with some fiber that was shaded from dark to light. I split it into 6 bundles and spun singles with the same color progression. Then I made a 3-ply yarn, which is between fingering and sport weight, I think. One skein came out larger than the other, so I think I'll knit from the smaller one first, then try to adjust the colors on the larger one to match. We'll see how that works. Here's the yarn. I think it looks pretty good.

In knitting news, I put aside the laceweight cardigan I had started (Geodesic in Wollmeise Merlot)

to continue the Farmer's Market Cardigan I began in January. I had put it away in March, I think, because I figured the weather would warm up and I'd need the lighter weight sweater more. Well, I was wrong....it's been cold and rainy here, so I got out the heavier sweater and have been working my way through it.

The body and sleeves are knit, now I need to start the pockets and collar. It looks a little confusing, so while I was getting ready to tackle that, I started this:

It's Citron and I'm using some laceweight Malabrigo that I got with a lace club I joined last year. The pattern that came with it was for a moebius type wrap that didn't appeal to me, and I thought it was very citrus-y looking, so perfect for this pattern. It's moving along quickly and the yarn feels wonderful.

I also finished the socks I've been working on. They're for my friend and massage therapist, Anne. Usually it's too warm for wool socks in June, but I have a feeling she might be able to still wear them. Unfortunately!

These are Swirls made out of Koigu KPPPM. I made these before and find the pattern easy to memorize and fun to knit. And of course the yarn is so great to use.